//------------------------------// // Morning - 2nd Part: Reflections. // Story: The Gala's Night // by Bronie312 //------------------------------// And there he stood, standing in the middle of the room, looking at the door that just closed, leaving him completely alone once more… Always… A while had passed since the last time he thought of that word, Always. He'd said it many times, but never stopped for a moment to ponder the moral meaning of that word; he put aside its importance after the incident with Celestia, centuries ago. Their friendship was very strong after the Pre-Equestrian Era, it was strengthened during the first 100 years of both sisters and Alfred's reign, although this relationship suffered a notorious decline after the exile of Nightmare Moon. Fortunately, that slight, but palpable friendship managed to stay afloat despite the setbacks; however, it all ended after the incident... This event only proved to be the last straw in the relationship between both Alfred and Celestia, it caused a distance between them for several decades, what’s more, neither of them spoke a word to each other... for almost 37 years. Now, after the long moment of silence, Alfred stands in front of his bathroom mirror, examining his face carefully; looks at his eyes and cheeks, still with traces of tears, then sees his disheveled hair, and at the end... pays attention to his ear, or rather, the place where his ear should be. He still remembered perfectly that and many other events throughout his life, some worse than others, but he did. Every day, every night, he would stop for a few moments to reflect, to cry, and to try to accept the fact that all of this... is in the past. But he just can't. The worst thing was that he cannot go and tell anyone about his feelings and thoughts, his nightmares and pains, nothing at all. He, because of his position as monarch of Equestria, was unable to do anything about his past, except... cry. Crying, venting with weepings, and tears were the only thing a man, psychologically devastated, could do, but who still tried to keep his sanity as least affected as possible to avoid scandals. Alfred was, and is, the perfect example of that, the only thing he did, apart from his duties, was that... Letting go of a melancholic, sad, and desperate cry. However, all this would not be of importance to anyone except those who knew about all this, all his past... Celestia, Raven, and Shining Armor were the only ones who understood; but Shining Armor, currently, was in a distant Empire. Raven was forced to help out where possible with royal duties... and Celestia, well, neither of them had any contact beyond the casual, short talk. Alfred focused on a business, the breakfast, and glanced at the clock that hung on the wall next to the door. It was 7:38 in the morning. Usually, Celestia had her breakfast around 8, so the human decided to do what, until then, was unthinkable… “Not again…” He whispered. “Not today.” Alfred proceeded to freshen up himself completely. First, he combed his hair again, then shaved off his short two or three-day beard; afterward, he washed the face to remove traces of tears from it, and finally, he brushed his teeth thoroughly in order to look good. Once finished, the Prince looked carefully at his face once more. He was satisfied with the result, though he wasn't handsome, he had never tried to look good on purpose; indeed, this was one of the few times he did. He sighed. However, only for a few seconds, he was able to barely smile. It wasn’t much, but… when he noticed, it told him a lot and he was proud of it. He finally knew what he would do after so much… Once again, Alfred stood in silence, in front of the door. However, this time, he wasn’t thinking… Now, at the moment, he stared, not at the door, but at one object he had on his hands. It was a black-colored beret. It didn’t seem to be something important, but it was for him. Actually, this was a gift given by both Celestia and Luna, many years ago. Maybe, he had been suffering a lot lately, but he did have some good memories. Unfortunately, these were only a few and, almost always, they were overshadowed by those bad. This simple but important object represented for the Prince what he lost once and, narrowly, lost on many more... A show of affection for him. Looking up ahead, the human puts the beret on and closes his eyes one last time, sighs, then opens them again and whispers… “Here we go.” That's when he opens the door and takes a couple of steps forward, then closes it behind him. Right after, Alfred looks forward again, only to notice somepony's presence, standing at the side of the hall. He immediately recognized her, it was Corporal Hook, who still seemed to be doing her job of guarding the end of the hall and the room's entrance... “I thought you had already left, Corporal.” Alfred commented, making the bat pony turn to him and respond… “As I said, your highness,” She replies. “It is my duty, for the moment.” Alfred responded by nodding at her, letting her know he understood the situation; she continues… “Feeling any better now, sir?” She asked. He immediately stops by her side while looking forward; despite what others would believe, he wasn’t ignoring her, just… thinking. She knew that, which let Alfred to not worry about and answered… “No.” He said, though there was something to add… “As you said, We all have to go through a lot before achieving anything… Heh… It almost sounds like it comes from a philosopher.” Hook slightly blushed at his comment, she understood that the compliment was for her and it made her feel a little embarrassed; however, as before, she managed to hide that expression very quickly, but not as quick as usual… “You don’t have to feel embarrassed, it’s only a compliment.” Alfred remarked… The bat pony sighed. “I know,” She replied. “It’s just… embarrassing when somepony else notices I’m easy to flatter, it makes me feel weak.” Alfred didn’t reply, instead of that, he walked forward for a moment before turning around and looking at her… “If somepony notices you can be flattered, don’t let it make you feel weak, but to make you feel that you can show emotions… that you actually have a heart.” He suggested before adding one last thing… “Being a royal guard, either solar or nocturnal, doesn’t transform into a machine… You can feel. Never forget that.” A silence started, but this one wasn’t an uncomfortable one, it’s reflective for the bat pony who had helped him, but forgot to think about herself. Now, she did and picked up what he meant; she looked at him in the eyes and nodded in gratitude, Alfred picked up as well what she meant and replied… “Most importantly,” He commented. “Never let anypony else tell you what to do. You’re free to choose your destiny.” “And, what you did wasn’t the exact opposite?” She questioned him; Alfred chuckled at this and replied… “It was more like… a suggestion.” Then, without saying anything else, he stepped back a few before turning around once more and leaving the place… The more he walked, the more guards he saw. It was common for him to see plenty of them, but it was always impressive to him knowing that, in every event, more than 150 royal guards to prepare the event correctly or, at least, appropriately. Of course, most of the ponies that came to the Grand Galloping Gala were part of the high social class, but still. Sometimes, Alfred thought it was an exaggeration to only let those ponies be welcomed since, for what they went for, was only to see Celestia and, hopefully, him. Now, they had another excuse to come, Luna. He wasn’t against the fact of Luna being part of the gala, but it made him think that society only wanted recognition and popularity for anything, instead of enjoying the event and chatting with others, dancing, or whatever they could do there. However, he chose to put those thoughts aside and keep walking towards the castle commander. After another few minutes of walking, Alfred finally reached his destination, being greeted by a couple of royal guards, who noticed his arrival and bowed before him… “Good morning to you too, gentleponies.” Alfred greeted as he nodded to both guards, who replied… “Thank you, sir.” Said one. The other asked. “Have you slept well, your majesty?” “Well,” Alfred sighed. “as good as possible. Thank you for asking.” He thanked. “It is my duty, after all, your highness.” The guard replied before asking… “May we know to what we owe the honor of having you here, your majesty?” Alfred remained silent for a moment before smiling slightly and responding… “I just wanted to surprise Celestia.” He said. “Is she here?” “Affirmative, your highness.” Answered the other guard. “She just returned from cooking breakfast, you want me to tell her you’re here?” He asked, Alfred immediately denied with the head… “No, thanks.” He answered. “As I said, I would like to surprise her.” “We understand, your majesty.” Commented the guard. “You want us to leave for the moment?” Alfred thought the answer for a second before saying… “Yes, please.” Knock, Knock, Knock. Celestia stopped drinking her tea and set the cup on the table, closed the newspaper, set it aside, and kept her gaze fixed on the door. For her, it was rare for somepony to interrupt her breakfast, though it wasn't something that bothered her at all; what's more, the company used to be enjoyable at times, so she spoke… “Come in.” At her answer, the door opened instantly, though what she saw surprised her quite a bit. Alfred, the one with whom she had hardly interacted after a long time, was on the other side of the door, looking at her with an expression capable of confusing anypony… “A-Alfred,” She exclaimed slightly. “what a surprise.” “Hey, Tia.” He greeted. “May I join you?” “Of course, Alfred.” Celestia replied. Alfred nodded and proceeded to enter the dining room, closing the door behind him; afterward, he walked towards the table in absolute silence, without saying a word. Celestia noticed this, but preferred to let him speak, though she already had an idea of why he was doing it. Alfred sat next to Celestia, still not saying anything, but knowing that Celestia realized all that silence; therefore, and without more that he could do, he spoke… “Enjoying breakfast?” He asked, to which the alicorn nodded in response… “Yes, thank you.” She answered. “Would you like some as well?” “Thanks, Tia. But… I must decline the invitation.” The human replied. Celestia looked at her food for a moment, she knew that Alfred hadn’t come to just make her some company, then why was he here?... “Then, why are you here?” Celestia asked. “If you didn’t come to have breakfast nor accompany me, then… which is the reason?” He was silent for a few seconds, this time it wasn't to know what to answer, but to have enough courage to tell her; they hadn't interacted properly in a long time, the past events had hardened them and it would be difficult for him to explain himself, but he knew what it had to be said… “I miss…” He responded. That was definitely the answer Celestia had least expected. There was nothing explicit in that short sentence that made her understand all the sea of thoughts that flooded his mind. All she knew was that he missed something, but she didn't know what. Despite knowing him well, the lack of proper interaction between them for as long as almost three hundred years left her without a clear idea of what he was referring to since he could be meaning to anything… She asked. “What do you miss, Alfred?” “...Everything.” He answered. “I miss… all the good old times we once shared, I miss all those who I loved once and love me back… and, I miss the love and friendship in my life.” Celestia said nothing. She wanted, needed to hear him say everything he had inside of him; in order to help a soul in need, they should be allowed to express themselves freely, to speak, to vent their sorrows and pains, even if they had already done it before on many occasions. However, something stopped the man from talking. He wanted to speak, but something inside him was screaming to stop; it was impossible to describe, but it seemed to be like his subconscious, telling him to not do it, that it wouldn't be worth doing so. Now the reason was known, the fear within one can force him/her to keep the thoughts hidden from others forever, but this is only a reflection, which must be overcome… At some point, it looked like he was able to recover the ability to speak. He had made it. The fear that for a long time forced him to be quiet with almost everypony was officially gone; now, he was free to express himself, to tell Celestia everything… “It’s been difficult for me to accept that everything I’ve once known is… gone.” He continued explaining while looking at a window; his mind seemed to play some sort of trick since he was able to see in it the image of an evil Discord, looking at him with the most feared, corrupted eyes. He closed his eyes, but never stopped talking… “The castle, Discord, my friends… my family.” A sniff came from him, a tear was shed on his right cheek and his eyes opened once more to look at Celestia’s… “The worst of it is… that I left all those events deeply affect in my current life, making the friendship we once shared be gone and, probably, not be recovered ever.” He concluded, almost letting his soul break at remembering all those terrible memories. Celestia, instead of answering, got up from her chair and walked towards him; then, she slowly approached and hugged him in silence. Alfred, without hesitating, accepted the hug and left all the tears be shed… “I understand the feeling, my dear friend,” Celestia whispered. “I know how it is to lose somepony you love, witness the death of many that you cared for, and cared for you… And- ...I know what it is to be forced to remain in complete silence and not tell anypony how you feel.” She finally expressed, shedding a tear while she kept hugging the man. Suddenly, a small chuckle, covered in sadness and weeping, emerged… “We need serious psychiatric help... don’t we?” Alfred joked while crying, Celestia, knowing what he meant, chuckled in tears, and replied… “We certainly do, Alfred… We certainly do…” They kept hugging for quite a while, but there wasn’t need to know that, neither Celestia nor Alfred cared since they needed this. It was needed some truth, some sincerity, some… honest weeping… “Thank you, Tia.” Alfred thanked whispering, to which Celestia said… “Thank you, Alfred… for sharing the honesty trapped in your soul.” TO BE CONTINUED...